Growkit questions

[ika]

Hi, what's up? I',m new here and I have some questions about my Cubensis growkit I got in my last trip to Amsterdam.

Although I searched over the net and read all the FAQs, forums and articles I found, I still have doubts about how recognize contamination in the cake and the shroooms. It's in the day 11 and some mushrooms started to grow. I read that the base must be white but in my case it's brown so I'm not sure everything is OK. This is a pic I took today. Can someone tell me if they're contaminated? I see a white points in the caps and I don't know if this is normal...

Also I've noticed that a number of them have grown in the sides of the container and I'm not positive they'll found its way to the surface of the cake. This is a pic of one of the sides:

It's sad because I see more than 10 mushrooms... Now, if I leave those aborts they'll root when I flood the cake for the second flush, contaminate it and I won't be able to reuse the kit; but if I try to harvest them, I'll risk to damage the cake. What should I do? :x

Thanks in advance and sorry for my poor english! ^^

 

[HeartCore]

They look good, no contams as far as I can see.

As for aborts, there will (almost) always be some aborts. Just wait till the first flush is over and dunk. New ones will spawn

 

[ika]

Thank you!

 

[ika]

Wow! They're growing so fast! I'm excited It seems they'll open th caps tomorrow . Look!

[/img]

But now I have a new doubt! I read some contradictory documents about when it's the right time to harvest them! Some people say I must wait until the caps are open (like the very manual that came with the kit), and others that I have to harvest before they start to open the caps. As I've seen in Amsterdam that fresh mushrooms they sell have the the caps closed, I'm not sure what's the best method.

 

[HeartCore]

Its best to harvest just before the caps are opening. Usually, I pick clusters when one cap starts to open. The idea is that if you wait too long, spore development will make the taste of the mushrooms more bitter.

Also, when the caps are opening, the mushrooms may still gain more weight but do not increase psilocybin, maybe that because all energy is going to spore production at that point, I dont know exactly.

Your shrooms are looking good btw!
love/peace
HC

 

[ika]

Thanks for the info!

Now I only need to observe when they start to open, because I never saw it before ^^

I'm so nervous lol!!!

 

[shrmd]

They are looking good. Happy tripping my man

 

[ika]

Bad news, guys... I've already dried some shrooms and I guess I must done something wrong because the babies are getting white/greenish. I believe the reason is they're not completely dried.

As usual, some pics for you:

The quality is poor but you can see the white thing in the base and also a greenish tone that they have... I'm afraid I'll have to throw away all the harvest...

BTW the second flush is growing, so I acept advices to do it better next time drying and so on...

Thank you!!!![/img]

 

[shrmd]

Take it out of the plastic bag.They must be bone dry before you put it in
a bag to store.If they are not dry the plastic bag will make them rot. :wink:

 

[ika]

I see, but I put them in plastic bags after I saw the green/white thing... I had them in a closed crystal jar before...

Should I put them back in the fan more time?

If they're white/green I must throw them away, I cannot eat them, right?

 

[Lion]

Take a newspaper, spread the shrooms on em, take another newspaper, place that on top, and put the whole newspaper with shrooms on your heater in your house. Radiator?

 

[shrmd]

Also take some spore prints from the next flush
then u can grow more shrooms. Then u dont
have to buy another grow kit.

Fire brother. :wink:

 

[ika]

Thank you guys! I think I'll buy also some silica gel since I read it works well and I don't have radiator.

So, what can I do with the little green mould that it's appearing in some shrooms?

 

[shrmd]

Play it safe and dont eat those.
Rather grow some more.You dont want to get sick.

Fire brother

 

[GOD]

On a news paper on top of a cupboard or wardrobe is warm enough = 16 - 18c . Radiators can get to hot if they are covered with something . Are you sure that its not a blue colour ? Psilocybin mushrooms have a blueing reaction when they come into contact with air . Dry them till they snap = are britle . Anywhere between hard leather and brittle is good . Dont let them get wet again afterwards = no wet air =keep them air tight in a closed jar in the fridge .

 

[Lion]

When their dried in the fridge???

There will come oxidation inside the airtight jar... because off the cold. Just put them in an airtight case somewhere dark...

 

[GOD]

Oxidation because of the cold ??? Please tell me where i can read about it ??? A fridge stays the same temperature , other places dont . Temperature changes are not suposed to be good for them . I have talked to people who should know and they always say air tight , cool and stable temperatures are the best . The bottom of a fridge is about 6 - 8c .

 

[Lion]

A fridge is usually 3 ° (in european Bin Normes).

And try it, take a tupperware box and place some dry herbs in it, lock it airtight, and put it in your fridge for a couple of days, you'll see there's gonna be little waterdrops inside the box.

 

[ika]

Wow! so many opinions (and so different >_<).

The problem I have is my house is a very very hot place in summer so even in a dark closet they still can lose properties. A fridge/freezer is so bad to store them?

The second flush is almost ready:

The stems are not completely white (I'm kinda paranoid yeah ) but the mycelium is still bright white. Sadly this flush seems to be smaller that the first one and I was told the second would be even bigger, but oh well... It's nice anyway hehe [/img]

 

[GOD]

My fridge is 8c on the bottom level and i never got condensation on them . If they are properly dried they will absorb the minimal amount of watrer that the air in the jar holds without any noticable diference .

But OK , As little air , light , warmth and temperature change as possible . What about puting them in a bag , in a jar and diging a hole and puting them in that ?

The pics look good , i feel realy hungry now .